The present invention is based on a multistage transmission for an internal combustion engine comprising a disconnect-type clutch, a drive shaft, driven shaft on which engaged gearwheels are arranged to achieve different gear steps, clutches are arranged to be actuated via shift forks to move speed gears and to generate a frictional connection with the drive shaft, and a control cable and/or a gearshift linkage arrangement to effect a gear change.
So-called dual clutch transmissions (see, for example, DE 100 38 090 A1) have been known in automotive engineering for many years and are increasingly used in the sports car sector to combine the lower fuel consumption and the sporty appearance of a manual transmission with the comfort of an automatic transmission. While the one train is used to drive the car, the next gear step can be preselected on the other train. The main attraction is the use of known and field-proven shift components (synchronization devices and clutches).
Based on function, the gear set arrangement for a dual clutch transmission is selected such that the even and odd gears are arranged on separate, specially provided input shafts. To be able to use such a dual clutch gear set for a conventional manual transmission (keyword: “same parts” principle) would require, for example, hydraulic control of the synchronization devices associated with the individual gears. With a traditional internal gearshift, the familiar H shift pattern in the manual transmission could not be implemented.